On the design of a coilgun as a rapid-fire grenade launcher

Author

Liao, M. ; Zabar, Z. ; Czarjtowski, D. ; Levi, E. ; Birenbaum, L.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Polytech. Univ., Brooklyn, NY, USA

Volume

35

Issue

1

fYear

1999

fDate

1/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

148

Lastpage

153

Abstract

Two electromagnetic grenade launcher designs for armored vehicles are described. Both are based on the specifications for a conventional launcher, the Mark 19, which uses an M430 projectile. The first launcher has a muzzle velocity of 241 m/sec, as does the conventional one. For the second, the muzzle velocity was increased to 700 m/sec. Because of the large difference between the two velocities, the two designs had to be based on different energy considerations. The effects of variations of barrel parameters such as the pole pitch, the number of sections, and the thickness of the coils, are examined. For the projectile, the sleeve length parameter is varied. General guidelines are presented for the design of grenade coilguns

Keywords

electromagnetic launchers; military equipment; weapons; 241 m/s; 700 m/s; M430 projectile; armored vehicles; barrel parameters; coil thickness; coilgun design; electromagnetic grenade launcher designs; energy considerations; grenade coilguns design; high energy launcher; low energy launcher; muzzle velocity; pole pitch; rapid-fire grenade launcher; sleeve length parameter; Acceleration; Coilguns; Coils; Electromagnetic launching; Flywheels; Frequency; Magnetic levitation; Projectiles; Propulsion; Vehicles;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.738393

Filename

738393